The second person mysteriously took out a package containing gold, silver, and jade ornaments. Seeing that the person was wearing a coarse cloth shirt, Yuan Doudou thought that the source of this person's things was probably illegitimate.

Sure enough, the next second the boss asked the man in the short shirt to show his ID. This is the rule of the pawnshop. Everything needs to be checked for its origin. But based on his experience, the boss usually doesn't need them to show their ID unless something looks suspicious.

The man in the short-sleeved shirt changed the subject, saying, "I have something urgent to attend to. Could you please hurry up?"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but if you don't have proof of these items, there's nothing I can do. We're also under government control here, and everything that comes in must have proof of its origin."

"I... I was in such a hurry to leave that I forgot. Boss, you're in business, why are you so stubborn?" The man in the short shirt blushed with anxiety, and his voice became rough.

The boss refused without hesitation: "I'm sorry, you can go back and get it if you forget it. But I can't do this business unless I see the receipt. Please leave."

Enraged, the man in the short-sleeved shirt turned around, glanced at the man behind him, then at Yuan Doudou. With a quick twitch of his eyes, he grabbed Yuan Doudou's wrist, pulled her close, and swiftly strangled her with his arm, nearly suffocating her.

"What are you doing!" the boss shouted hurriedly, and then came out through the hidden door.

"What do you think? If you don't do it for me today, I'll make you bleed here." The man in the short-sleeved shirt grinned, increasing the pressure on his arm.

Yuan Doudou stuck out her tongue, her face turning red and purple. What bad luck! She encountered a madman on her first outing after transmigrating.

She really wanted to say, "Boss, please let him take the job, or I'll be strangled to death."

Unfortunately, the boss remained calm and said, "If you had the guts, I would respect you as a man. But you're willing to risk your life for money. It seems you have no one to care about you at home."

Thinking of his family, the man in the short-sleeved shirt was momentarily lost in thought, muttering, "My mother is dying, I need money to save her life."

"Does your mother know what you've been doing outside? If she knew, wouldn't she die even faster?" the boss asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yuan Doudou's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. "Big brother, what are you doing? Are you afraid I'll die too slowly?"

She desperately wanted to say something like, "Could we at least offer some delaying tactics?" but her throat was being choked so tightly she couldn't breathe, let alone speak.

Yuan Doudou felt her face was turning purple from holding it in; she could imagine what she looked like without even looking in a mirror.

"You, I, didn't mean to." The man in the short shirt lowered his head, and the strength in his arm also waned by half.

With a knowing glance from the shopkeeper, Yuan Doudou understood and bit the man in the short shirt hard on the arm. Caught off guard, he crouched down, and Yuan Doudou took the opportunity to escape from his side.

Under the shopkeeper's instructions, the shop assistants worked together to subdue the man in the short shirt. Yuan Doudou, still shaken, stood outside the door, too afraid to go in.

In broad daylight, such an outrageous thing can happen.

Yuan Doudou only dared to enter the shop after the government officials came and took the man in the short shirt away.

"Miss, I'm so sorry for what happened just now. I'm sorry you were frightened." The shopkeeper personally poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Yuan Doudou.

Yuan Doudou didn't stand on ceremony. She took the teacup and gulped it down, burning herself so badly she grimaced.

"It's alright, you didn't mean it." Yuan Doudou said, taking out a handkerchief from her bosom, unfolding it and placing it in front of the shopkeeper. "Could you help me see how much this bracelet is worth?"

Yuan Doudou was getting anxious because the man in the short shirt had interrupted her and delayed her by an hour.

"Don't worry, this is my mother-in-law's dowry, and its origin is not a problem." Yuan Doudou brought the list given to her by her mother-in-law. A woman's dowry is registered with the government and has the government's seal on it.

The shopkeeper glanced at the receipt and returned it to Yuan Doudou. Then he carefully examined the bracelet, spending a long time just looking at the patterns on it.

Yuan Doudou was getting flustered by his dawdling; she was afraid the bracelet might be fake.

"Shopkeeper, is there a problem?" This concerns the livelihood of the whole family, so Yuan Doudou asked nervously.

The shopkeeper picked up the bracelet, carefully tapped it on the table, and listened attentively to the clear and melodious sound it made.

"No problem, it's a good item." The shopkeeper smiled broadly; this bracelet was the best thing he had received in the past few days.

"Young lady, how much do you want to pay?" After a while, the shopkeeper asked.

Ah, can I still report the amount myself? Yuan Doudou was completely confused.

I'm a complete newcomer and have no idea how things work out here.

"Shopkeeper, how much do you think this can be pawned for at most?" Yuan Doudou asked directly.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "That depends on whether you pawn it alive or dead."

Without hesitation, Yuan Doudou replied, "Of course, I'll pawn it." This was her mother-in-law's dowry, and she was only borrowing it temporarily to solve her immediate problem. She would redeem it when the family had more money in the future.

The shopkeeper stroked his beard, did some quick calculations on the abacus, and gave a deadline and interest rate.

Yuan Doudou thought it was reasonable enough, so she agreed: ten taels of silver for a year's work, and ten taels and five hundred cash for redemption after a year.

The interest rate was higher than she expected, but the fact that it could be exchanged for ten taels was still unexpected.

The bracelet looked quite ordinary; she even suspected that the shopkeeper had misjudged it.

"Young lady, you can sign here. I'll keep one copy for you, and this one needs to be sent to the yamen for notarization." The shopkeeper took out inkpad and had Yuan Doudou sign and put her fingerprint on it.

"Let me remind you, if you don't redeem it after a year, it will automatically become a dead pawn after three months, and then this item will belong to us completely," the shopkeeper specifically instructed.

Yuan Doudou nodded, indicating that she understood.

It turns out that pawning things is so complicated. Every transaction has to be registered with the government, similar to a modern contract. Once signed, it has legal effect.

Yuan Doudou walked out of the pawnshop with a large silver ingot in her hand, her face beaming with joy.

Today was truly a close call. With so much money, I can not only pay off my debts but also buy some food for my family.

Just as Yuan Doudou reached the street corner, an old woman carrying a bamboo basket was pushed from behind and fell to the ground, scattering the vegetables and radishes from her basket all over the ground.

"Oh, you heartless bastard, come back here!" The old woman sat on the ground, spinning around in anger.

Without hesitation, Yuan Doudou stepped forward, bent down, and said, "Auntie, let me help you up."

The old woman had a long face and seemed unwilling to talk to anyone.

Seeing how wary she was, Yuan Doudou decided not to meddle and got up to walk forward.

"Girl, why are you leaving?" the old woman called out in a high-pitched voice from behind, surprised that Yuan Doudou had left.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Doudou stopped and turned to the old woman, saying sternly, "No good deed goes unpunished. You should get up yourself."

She acted impulsively and forgot about the skit about whether to help someone up or not. If she gets scammed by bad guys, she'll probably lose all the money she has.